Sunday, April 03, 2011

Markets In Everything: Princess Boot Camp

"With Britain's royal wedding around the corner, wannabe princesses gathered Saturday at a posh London hotel for a crash course on how to curtsy, what to say to the queen and how keep pesky crumbs off their lips when eating finger sandwiches. The April 29 wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton has fueled a bonanza of opportunities for niche entrepreneurs.

Ms. Jerramy Fine, 33, the American founder of Princess Prep, says that "It gives girls the ability to know that they can be in any situation - whether it's with the queen, their parents, their teacher, a friend – and know that they're behaving the right way. And I think that's important, royalty or no royalty."

Saturday's one-day course will be followed by a series of weeklong summer camps in London for 8- to 11-year-old girls. Costing more than $4,000, the camps teach girls about modern and historic princesses, royal history, phone etiquette, how to take compliments and how to curtsy. The girls also volunteer at charities - all while being waited on by a butler called 'Jeeves.' Fines says she expects to draw more Americans for the longer summer camps, which are in their first year."